Cupcake 79 - Rachel Alexandra

I'm always intrigued by the Preakness. I think I like the tradition of it. Not so much the actual horse racing. Baltimore celebrates in a big way when Preakness rolls around -- lots of festivities and a parade. Who doesn't love a parade? I try not to get caught up in event cupcake baking; but Preakness draws me in. I don't know of a specific food connected to the race. Crabcakes of course, because it's Maryland, but nothing else. Preakness does have fair amount of alcohol, along with lots of beer, there is the "Black Eyed Susan." I've never had one, but after a few searches it seems to be citrus based with alcohol, recipe to recipe it differs, not sure what the decider might be. There is also the lesser known "Horsey Hilltop," a rye based drink with a touch of brown sugar and a dash of bitters. My nod to Preakness is a burnt butter, brown sugar cupcake with a bitters buttercream. Cheers Rachel Alexandra!
You go girl!

Cupcake 75 - Caraway Seed with lemon glaze

Sorry no pix

3 C AP flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 t nutmeg
1 C butter, room temperature
1 t vanilla
2 T caraway seeds
2 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 eggs + 2 yolks, room temperature
1 c milk
zest from 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 350. Line wells of two cupcake pans/24 wells with cup cake liners.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, lemon zest and caraway seeds, mix well. Alternate sugar and eggs in three increments, beating well and scraping down sides of mixing bowl. Alternate flour and milk, beating well with each addition.

Fill wells 3/4 full, bake for 17-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Lemon Glaze
1 1/4 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
1 T boiling water

In medium bowl combine sugar, zest and salt. Add lemon juice and water, mix well. Drizzle on cupcakes.

Cupcake 78 - Mint Angel Food with chocolate cream and a bellybutton

I've been in the mood for a lighter cupcake lately. I love Angel Food cake and don't make it often enough, it goes with my love of all things plain. I do however, spend far too much time tying to find a use for all the egg yolks when I make angel food cake. I hate to waste. Oddly, the cupcakes shrank a bit, after I took them out of the oven, they were much lighter than regular cupcakes and a bit smaller, very cute. For these cupcakes I added mint chocolate chips to the vanilla batter, a creamy chocolate filling and a drizzle of glaze on top. I covered the filling hole with a Junior Mint

Cupcakes
12 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 c confectioners sugar
1 c AP flour
1 1/2 t cream of tartar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t mint extract
1 c sugar
1/2 c mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Line wells of 3 cupcake pans/36 wells with paper liners.
Separate eggs, set yolk aside for another use.

Combine confectioners sugar, flour. In bowl of standing mixer beat egg whites and extracts until thick, add cream of sugar, tarter and salt and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture.
Fill cupcake pans 3/4 full. Gently drop in 2 t mint chocolate chips and stir with knife. Bake 10-14 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Glaze:
3 T butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 c confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
3 T water
Combine butter, salt and confectioners sugar in small bowl. Add water until you reach desired consistency.

For the chocolate cream:

12 T confectioners sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa powder
3 Tbsp milk
2 c heavy cream
pinch cream of tartar

Whisk together sugar, cocoa and milk, set aside. In bowl of standing mixer, whip cream and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Whisk in chocolate mixture, refrigerate until ready to use. (And don't eat it all!)

To assemble:

Pipe filling into cupcakes using the cone method. Be careful not to "blow out the bottom." Angel food is much more porous than other cake. Drizzle glaze, top with Junior Mint.

Cupcake 77- Meyer Lemon with Lavender Cream

Meyer lemons have a very powerful aroma, a little citrusy, but much more perfumey than a "grocery store" lemon. I expected the taste to much more vibrant, not so much. And again the lavender I used for the filling was overwhelming when I was steeping the dried flowers. My kitchen smelled like a cupcake whorehouse, if there is such a thing (adult Candyland, maybe?) between the lavender and Meyer lemons. I was thankful the tastes were were much more umm..meek.



Meyer Lemon Cupcakes
3 C cake flour
1 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
12 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
2 C sugar
1 T Meyer lemon zest
4 eggs, room temp
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c buttermilk
3 T Meyer lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 cupcake pans/24 wells with liners. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer combine butter and sugar mixing until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest and beat for one more minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix well.

Mix lemon juice into butter milk. Alternate flour and buttermilk in three increments, mixing well and scraping sides of bowl between each addition.

Fill cupcake wells 3/4 full, bake 17-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Lavender Cream
3 T dried food grade lavender blossoms
3 T sugar
1/2 c water
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c heavy cream

Bring water, sugar and lavender to boil, sirring well to dissolve sugar. Turn off burner, allow to steep 20 minutes. Strain and allow lavender water to cool.

In bowl of stand mixer beat cream until thick add 3T lavender water and a pinch of salt, beat on high until stiff peaks form.

Meyer Lemon Buttercream

2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
4 c powdered sugar sifted
1/2 t vanilla
1 t lemon extract (optional)
2 T Meyer lemon zest
3 - 4 T Meyer lemon juice

In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter until light, add zest, pinch of salt and vanilla, beat well. Add powdered sugar in four increments, beating well and scraping sides of bowl. Add juice to reach desired consistency. Beat buttercream on high 3 minutes.

To assemble.

Use cone method to pipe filling into cupcakes, frost with buttercream, top with lavender.